Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Problem with Expansions

Blizzard is without a doubt one of the most renowned developing companies for video games in the industry today. The amounts of money they make each month through World of Warcraft subscriptions alone should clue you in on this. However, even a giant like Blizzard faces difficult with balancing their games. This is a huge issue in games that are competitive and played professionally like Starcraft 2. I anticipate lots of trouble with balancing when the new Heart of the Swarm expansion comes out!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

It's been awhile

Hey followers! I know it's been awhile, but coming up sometime this weekend I will have a new post with all new strategies for the new patches that have been applied!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Day Two!

Since I find that Terran tend to be the most overpowered race, they seem to prove very difficult for Zerg players at times, but you can still win with this strategy!

May I introduce, the Baneling Rush

Basic Description: This build focuses on destroying the Terran's wall in and causing as much damage as possible with the suicidal Banelings.

Build:


  • 9 - Overlord
  • 14 - Spawning Pool
  • 13 - Extractor
  • 15 - Overlord
  • 15 - Queen
  • 17 Zerglings
  • Continue producing Zerglings and Overlords and using Spawn Larvae
  • @100 Gas - Upgrade Metabolic Boost at the Spawning Pool
  • @50 Gas - Baneling Nest
  • @100% Baneling Nest: Morph 6 Banelings (close to Terran base, but out of vision range
  • @100% Banelings: attack with the 6 Banelings and ~16 Zerglings


Execution:
1)While you're outside the Terran base, control group your units as you see fit. I usually just go with one control group for banelings, one for zerglings, and one for all units.


2) Send in one zergling and have your banelings follow immediately, going straight for the weakest walled off structure (supply depots/reactors). If they are not walled off, proceed straight to their mineral line with your banelings.

3) Once you have broken through their wall, take out any spare units they may have and as usual, go straight for the economy, causing as much damage as possible.

4) Be prepared for a rage quit!


In the Event of a Failure:
The odds of winning after failing this rush are greater than they are with a 6 pool zerg rush, but still not that great if the enemy has air units that can attack ground units or simply has massed units. However, if it's clear there are no air units on the field, create more zerglings and keep attacking. If they fly their structure away have your zerglings follow them and prepare to tech up to hydralisks. From there on you should be good!

This build will most likely not work if:
-You suck.

-The enemy has massed units/air units.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Starting off, First Guide

To start off the blog here on day one I thought I'd start by posting my first guide. Many of the guides will be focused around the Zerg race, as that is my favorite race to play, but I will post bits of information about general strategies and if the blog gains enough interest, strategies for Protoss/Terran.

This first guide is a very basic rushing build for Zerg. It may seem a little cheap at times (especially with the upcoming patch 1.1 which will nerf the Zealot's build speed) but it works in lower level leagues and can be a real time-saver if you want to face more challenging opponents. 

The way I (and most) people manage their build orders is by looking at supply, which is your total unit count (ex, 10/10 supply), and that is what will be used to determine when to build the next unit or structure.


May I introduce, the 6 Pool Zergling Rush.

Basic Description: An all in build that focuses on massing Zerglings quickly to off the opponent.\

Build:

=6/10 - spawning pool
=7/10 - zergling
=8/10 - zergling
=9/10 - zergling
=10/10 - zergling

Execution:
-The moment your Zerglings pop (spawn) put them in two separate control groups by ctrl+1, ctrl+2. Then select all of them and do ctrl+3 if you need to focus your fire on one thing. Microing the Zerglings is the key to victory.


- Send all your Zerglings over to the enemies base as quickly as possible. From here on, your choice of attacks will rely on what the enemy has.

If the enemy has one or two basic units, attack them first with each of your control groups and proceed to their mineral line where their workers are and take them out. This will completely halt their economy and prevent them from building any more units which could possibly counter your Zerglings.

-If the enemy has no units and only one structure for building units destroy that quickly and proceed to the mineral field.

-If the enemy's base isn't there, you're in trouble. This happens when Terran players fly their Command Center to another mineral field. If this happens and you're on a small map, it should be relatively easy to find and take it out, with the time it took to do that he has halted all progress for producing anything and you can swoop in for a quick win.

-If the enemy has more units than you, your only hope is to strike their mineral field and take out their economy and hope that you can produce a few more Zerglings to get in there and really shake them up.


In the Even of a Failure:
The odds of winning after failing this rush are quite low, unless you can macro/micro well enough to produce units and transition into a new build (new build will be covered later). However, if you can produce enough Zerglings to cause some basic damage and you can keep the pressure on early in the game, you may win! Never let your opponent psych you out.

This build will most likely not work if:
-You have been scouted and the enemy sees your early Pool.

-The enemy base is walled off (meaning the choke point into their base is surrounded and not accessible by your units. There is a way around this which will be covered at a later point.


Check back tomorrow for more guides!